Electrical office-indicator.



J. G. GABEL.

ELECTRICAL OFFICE INDICATOR. A APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911.

36,089. Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. C. GABEL. ELBCTRTUAL OFPI GL INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED mum, 1911.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

2 BHEETSSHEET 2.

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JOHN c. enlist, or CHAMPAIGN, itnnvors, .assrcmon or own-mar 'ro CHARLES a CADWELL, or cn ceeo, rumors.

ELEG'PRIGAL OFEICEJNDIGATOR Specification of @Letters Patent.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C- GABEL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Champaign, county of (Sham paign, and State of Illinois, have invented.

certain new and useful Improvemen-tsv in Electrical Office-Indicators, of wh' h the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements. in.

electrical office indicators adapted to .be placed adjacent an office door for infornung callers whenthe oiiice oflicials will return in case of their absence.

and claimed.

The object of the invention is-to provide an ofiice indicator of the character men-i tioned which shall be simple of construction, neat and compact in appearance, and efii-- v cient in operations My invention will -be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification and m which;

Figure 1 1s a front elevation-of; an ofiice l indicator embodying my iIivent-ion,T-F 2 a side elevation thereof, Fig.1 2 is an inside view of the 'cover of the indicator, Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofsaidncover Figil? is an! inside view of the body of the lndieator, and

Fig. 5 is a detail front elevation. I The preferred form'of construction as illustrated. in! the accom anying: drawings comprises arectangu-lan ox or:inclosure I which isfornied of sheet metal and provided withan'open front. This. body i's-provided with an upwardly extending perforated ear or leg 2'by means-of which the same issuepended to awall or office door. The open I mg in the front ofthe box is closed by a vertically disposed cover 3- havingside flanges from the front edge of the. top of the body 1..-

4 which engage thesides'of the" body l as clearlyillustrated in Fig. '2. Depending isaz flange 5 whichoverhangs' the top edge oft-he cover 3- thus retainingthe-same .When inserted therein 1 as shown in Figs. i1 and'2.

aAfter the-top edge of the cover3lis inserted as described atits top endscrews 6 are sinjploye'd for securing the lower end ofthe cover, said screws passing through the flanges 4 into the sides of the body 11 The front cover 3 bears adjacent its top the inscribed. words Electrical ofiice indicator and adjacent its center the words Push button for information, the latter wordsbeing inscribed directly under a centrally disposed push button 7.. This button. is

adapted to reciprocate in a horizontal plane and is held in the normal position'as shown in Figs. L and 2 by means ofa helical spring 8 surrounding a stemfl9 which: is. secured to Patented Aug. 20,1912.

and arranged in axial alinemwent with the outwardly, and in order to limit. this outward; movement a flange. 1:0. is provided at the inner end of the button 7 which engages The inner'end of the'push button. stem 9 is bifurcatedand g'uidedib means of a perforation 11 formed in a s eet steel stamping buttcn 7. The spring 8- forces the button 7 the inner surfaceof? the cover 3, which c0nstruction, 1s clearly] illustrated in F i 3.

12., the latter. having standards 13 which are .secured'at their lower ends 14 to the inner face of the cover 3 asv illustrated in Fig. 3. Pivoted ina'the bifurcated: end of the stem 9 tie an arm 1.5 which is also bifurcated to. workfreely over a pivotal pin 16 passing through the bifurcated endof the stem 9' as illustrated. in Figs. 2 and 3. Arm 15 is iformed int'e ral. with an oscillator arbor 17 which. is ournaled in perforate ears l8 projecti are pivoted connecting -rods or links 20 which extend downwardly and connect with .fromthe stamping l2p The ex: terior en 8519 ofthe 'arbor,17 are bent forwardly and to the terminals of these ends perforated lugs 21 pro ecting rearwardl-y I fromavertically" movable shutter 22. This 2 1i formed adjacent the. bottom of the cover 3- asillustrated in Fig. 1 and by dotted lines in" Fig 2. Secured to one side of a standshutter is guided inits vertical movement I by means of vertically disposed guides 23 a-rd 13 ofthe stamping 12 is an insulator 25 to which is secured a metallic conductor 26 theend 27 thereof being resilientor in other words aflat spring the width of which is shown in Fig. 2- The end of the spring 27 is arranged in. the path of movement of the push button stem 9, the latter striking said spring prior to the end of its inward stroke. The conductor 26 is connected by means of a wire 28 to one terminal of an incandescent lamp socket 29 carrying the lamp 30. The other terminal 31 of the incandescent lamp socket 29'conneots with the battery 32, the latter being preferably of the dry-cell type.

I The battery 32 is supported in the top of the body 1 by means of a bracket 22 and the other terminal 34 thereof is grounded to the body 1 by means of a wire 35.

From the construction of the push button and the connecting mechanism it is apparent that the same are in electrical connection with the body 1, consequently in order to complete the electric circuit of the battery 32 it is only necessary to push the push button stem 9 into contact with the spring terminal 27 as illustrated in Fig. 3. In doing this the lamp 30 effects the illumination of a rotatable drum 36 which is mounted adjacent the bottom of the body '1 and adapted to be rotated by means of a knurled handle 37 which projects from one side of the body l as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4. The drum 36 is polygonal in cross section and provided with a plurality of card retaining longitudinally extending flanges 38 the end view of which is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The cards 39 carried by the drum 36 are inserted into the body 1 and positioned on said drum through a rectangular opening 40 provided in the body 1.- Each face of the drum 36 may be provided with a card which may disseminate any information desired, the information being usually such. as indicated in Fig. 4. A bearing shaft 41 which carries the drum 36 is closely fitted in a side of the box 1, the fit bein such that the drum will be frictionally held in any position which it may assume. In the operation of the drum-36 it is only necessary to rotate the handle 37 sufficiently to bring the desired card to the front as shown inFig. 4. ()n elevation of the shutter 22 and lighting of the lamp 30 this card may be readily read by a person pushin the button 7. In order to register the number of callers during the absence of a person 'from his ofiice a registering disk 41' is provided, the same being mounted adjacent the stamping 12 as shown in Fig. 2. This disk is provided with a centralv arbor 42 which is journaled in the cover 3 of the indicator. The front face of the disk 41' bears numerals arrangedconsecu- --tively' as shown in Fig. 5, and one of which being shown in Fig. 1. This re istering device is operated by means of a resilient arm 43 rigidly secured to the shutter 22 and extending upwardly therefrom as illustrated in Fig. 2. The upper end of the arm 43 is formed into an eye for proper engagement with one of a plurality of teeth 44 provided in the rear of the disk 41 and formed integral therewith. The disk 41 is rotated intermittently a distance corresponding with the spacing of one of the numerals thereof by means of the eye on the arm 43 which contacts with a tooth 44 at the limit of the upward movement of the shutter 22,

the disk 41 being thus moved a distance means provided to stop the rearward rotation of the disk 41 the downward movement of the arm 43 would cause as much retrograde movement as it had previously caused orward movement. To prevent this retrograde movement a stop pawl .45 which is secured at one terminal of a spring 46 is provided. The spring 46 is rigidly secured in a rearwardl as illustrated in Fig. 2. From this construction it is apparent that the number of callers will be accurately registered, the recextending bifurcated stud tangular opening 48 provided in the cover' 3 rendering the numerals borne on the disk 41 visible. In order that the drum 36 may be illuminated in an efiicient manner two reflectors 49 and 50 are provided the former being secured in the body 1 andthe latter in the cover 2, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 1 respectively.

In'order that a caller may write a note to the party whom he Wishes to interview a plurality of cards 51 are provided'on the top of the body 1, said cards being held in position by means of a resilient clip 52. After a card 51 has been written on, the

same is inserted in a supplementary clip 53 located above the clip 52 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. Still another clip 53 is provided at the bottom of the body 1 for the reception of mail matter, newspapers, etc.

The 'mode of operation of the device is as 1 follows: Assuming that the push button 7 is in its projecting normal position as illustrated in the several views, then when the same is depressed the arm 15 will be so moved as to effect the elevation of the shutter 22 thus exposing to view the card 39 on the drum 36. Supposing that there is not sufficient light to render the card easily visible upon the opening of the shutter 22 it becomes necessary that the card should be illuminated. To accomplish this a lamp '30 is provided as hereinbefore described and the same is lighted when the inner end of the push button stem 9 contacts with the terminal 27, thusclosing the battery circuit. The button 7 is held in the depressed position until the person has read the card on the drum 36 whereupon said button is released. Upon releasing the button 7 it automatically returns to the normal position as shown in the several views, it being obvious that the light will be extinguished upon the breaking of the battery circuit.

An oflice indicator of the construction set forth is neat and compact in appearance,

- and renders useful service to the callers at an office.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, butdesire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come Within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention what 1- claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described comprising an open front box; a detached cover for said box; a display member" mounted in said box, there being an opening provided in said cover in front of said display memsaid last named arms and said shutter, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a box having an open 4 front and a detachable cover, of a display member mounted in said box, there being an opening provided 1n said cover in front of said display member; a shutter mounted on the interior of said cover and normally closing said opening; a push-button mounted in said cover above said shutter; a stem in axial alinement wit-h said push-button and projecting into the interior of said box;

operative connections between said stem and shutter for operating the latter; an electric incandescent lamp arranged adjacent said display member and adapted to emit light for illuminating said member; a plurality of reflectors arranged adjacent said lamp and adapted to reflect light therefrom onto said display member; an electric battery, the lamp being in the battery circuit, one terminal of said circuit being normally'insulated from said stem, the latter being grounded to said battery, the arrangement being such that when said push-button is depressed said stem will contact with said terminal'for closing the lamp circuit; and a registeringdevice arranged in operative connection with said shutter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN" G. GABEL.

Witnesses HELEN F. LILLIs, JOSHUA R, H. Form. 

